A Fin-Del Plea

[Ayen]

Wait, I'm confused.

Are you two dying or something?

Don't worry, they'll be back in three days.

[Jiro]

Death, birth, it's all the same.

[Crop]

Sonny dying.jpg

Sonny dead.jpg

They shot Del on the causeway. He's dead.

[Del Murder]

Yeah, that's a pretty fitting note to end on.

[Psychotic]

Ten years.

It's a really long time.

What were you doing ten years ago? That's not rhetorical. Genuinely think about it. Me? I was here, leading a rebellion against the elite under the banner of a walrus. Funny how we always seem to come back around to where we started. Forgive me for indulging in some nostalgia here, I know full well that it's not great to hear about events of EoFF's past that you didn't get to experience. If nothing else, you participated in one of the all time greats today and you can tell this story in 2024 if you want.

I remember when Del got knighted. I don't need to look this up, I remember. I wasn't quite sure who he was, although I knew who he was more than I knew who Yamaneko, another person who was knighted in that batch was. I was more excited for my friend Xander being knighted with them. Indeed, I was fascinated by the whole thing - I was 16 at the time, folks, cut me some slack - and asked questions like "Who did the formal asking to become a Knight?" (Shlup, if you're wondering, though she's a story for another day) were like apples from the forbidden tree of knowledge. Ahhh, me.

Ten years. In that time EoFF stalwarts like Leeza, Kawaii Ryûkishi and RSL, people you thought would be on staff forever and until the end of time, members who you couldn't picture EoFF and the staff without, names that to some of you will mean nothing, he's seen them leave. He's seen newbies register, become popular posting superstars, get Knighted and leave. Just think of the careers he's outlasted - eestlinc, rubah, Levian, Rye, Jessweeee, Jiro, G13, Wolf Kanno, Vivi. All the rises and all the falls. It's hard to see, sometimes. Hard not to wallow in the nostalgia of making new friends and colleagues and then seeing them leave, and have to start all over again, to make friends with the new people and not compare them to your old friends. He did it, though. He still does. It's funny, for all his talk of his elitism - well, look at the mixture of people who joined the Del-ministration. A man who is truly not pro-elite whichever way you want to paint it.

What events we've seen. Twenty Ciddies. Second account mysteries, spammers, the fall of EotW, the fall of the RP forum, the rise of Quina's Kitchen, trolls, second account mysteries, four different owners, Square Enix finally acknowledging us and oh lord so much. And so there he stood, in the midst of it all. Calm and collected. Leading the way. The stalwart. Now he is the legend, the man you cannot think to see EoFF without. How many of you have joined in those past ten years? EoFF without Del Murder on staff? Get out of here.

The one thing I think I've learned in my time at EoFF is that nothing lasts forever. That doesn't mean everything will end at the same time, green shoots will emerge the next day. The Era of the Four Admins is truly over. I think an old man is going to have a well-earned rest after what must seem like a very, very long day.

The problem with being on staff for ten years is that you make a lot of enemies. A lot. And sometimes they ragequit, at other times they hold grudges, and sometimes they wait almost ten years for vengeance.

She has come for you at last.